Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Germany To NY Fed: Give Us Our Gold

Germany's central bank plans to bring back to Germany almost 700 tons of gold reserves it keeps in New York and Paris, the BBC reports.

By 2020, half of its gold bars will be in its vaults, the Bundesbank said. It currently keeps less than a third at home.

The bars were originally taken out of Germany in the 1950s as a precaution against an invasion from the Soviet Union.

The Bundesbank will no longer keep any of its reserves in Paris.

It will reduce the amount it holds in New York from 45% to 37% of its reserves, by the end of the decade.

No gold will be moved out of the Bank of England's vaults, however. It will still keep 13% of its total reserves in London.

Curiously, just 3 months ago, the Bundesbank went out of its way to give the impression that it was just fine with having a good portion of its gold stored with the NY Fed. During a speech delivered by Buba's Andreas Dobret, where NY Fed president Bill Dudley was present in the audience, Dorbet spoke to Dudley directly about the gold :

Please let me also comment on the bizarre public discussion we are currently facing in Germany on the safety of our gold deposits outside Germany – a discussion which is driven by irrational fears.

In this context, I wish to warn against voluntarily adding fuel to the general sense of uncertainty among the German public in times like these by conducting a “phantom debate” on the safety of our gold reserves.

The arguments raised are not really convincing. And I am glad that this is common sense for most Germans. Following the statement by the President of the Federal Court of Auditors in Germany, the discussion is now likely to come to an end – and it should do so before it causes harm to the excellent relationship between the Bundesbank and the US Fed.

Throughout these sixty years, we have never encountered the slightest problem, let alone had any doubts concerning the credibility of the Fed. And for this, Bill, I would like to thank you personally. I am also grateful for your uncomplicated cooperation in so many matters. The Bundesbank will remain the Fed’s trusted partner in future, and we will continue to take advantage of the Fed’s services by storing some of our currency reserves as gold in New York.

Watch what they say, not what they do. The Bundesbank likely won't stop by keeping 37% of its gold supply at NYFED. There is a major grassroots movement to bring all the gold home. MarketWatch reports:

Under the slogan, “Repatriate our Gold!”, Gold Action has been gathering petitions for its campaign from a host of big names, such as Frank Schaeffler, a member of German parliament.

“We believe it is essential to re-introduce a (partial) goldbacking for the world’s monetary system. And in order to back future national currencies, the gold needs to be physically present in the respective country,” says Gold Action.

There is a lesson for Americans here. If the Germans are spooked about gold held at NYFED, where things are relatively transparent, what should Americans think about US Treasury gold supposedly held at Fort Knox, but which no one is allowed to see.

10 comments:

I don't understand why they would keep any outside the country. OK, I get the fear of the Soviet Union in 1950, but it's not 1950 anymore. They should have moved their gold a long time before it became critical mass. I'm curious to see where this goes and if they'll be able to get it at all.

From the Bundesbank official statement: "the ability to exchange gold for foreign currencies at gold trading centres abroad within a short space of time". The US and London seem to be the best candidates in this case.

I guess the official talk about this being an alleged "precaution against an invasion from the Soviet Union" was propaganda from the get-go. Germany was and is a US vassal state since WW2, and keeping Germany's gold in NY was just one way of taking the fact into account.

It should get very interesting, then, when the first shipment is about to be examined - if there will be a shipment at all.

Fed's answer - nooo problemo, but it'll take 7 years - at about 40 tons per year. I mean first we have to mine the tungsten, then gold plate it, then exchange it for some other rube's real gold. This all takes time don'cha see... In the meantime, sich verpissen (piss off).

Imagine Chris Christie hearing that it would take 7 years to receive disaster relief money. His head would explode. In what reality can NYFED tell anybody that they' won't receive their deposits for nearly a decade only to to the response "ok, cool with me." - JD